William Holt

 

I have watched a funny little video about an eccentric who lived in Todmorden.  This was William Holt (1897 to 1977) writer and painter.  The part of his story that fascinated me was his trip to Europe with his horse, Trigger.

He had saved Trigger from the slaughter house, the animal was an ex rag and bone horse.  There is a lovely old, already faint with age, video on Vimeo made in 1969 of the pair.  William goes up to the moor where Trigger is free roaming and blows on a trumpet.  There is a joyful neigh and Trigger comes galloping down the hill to his master.  They both had a strong bond to each other, you can see it in the above photo.  Holt reckoned they travelled over 20,000 miles together.

What also  caught my attention was the mention of Wirlaw, which is a large mound that sits above Todmorden, you could almost describe it as a hill.  I had often seen this mound as i packed my shopping bag at Lidl.

Taken from Town council photos

I used to think that it was like some of the discarded 'hills' of coal you see in Wales but it is probably some form of geological formation.

Well somewhere up there is the carved Wizard of Wirlaw, carved late 20th century by Mike Williams and taken from William Holts book on the Wizard of Wirlaw written in 1959.  It looks like an Easter Island figure, but I think that is the nature of the stone.

The Wizard of Wirhal - Taken from Geograph - Stephen Craven

The last part of the story.  Not sure where William (Billy) Holt is buried but Trigger is buried on the side of the hill with his own gravestone.

Trigger's photo found on Geograph - John Illingsworth.

And that is how myths are made!

William Holt